Passions
by Briar's EquinoX
Summary: A flirtatious Raoul and Buri romance fic. A grand ball is approaching and they decide to attend in each other's company. But a one night fling has developed into something much more romantic and passionate than anyone ever expected.
1. The Invitation

Passions  
Chapter 1 ~ The Invitation  
  
Buriram Tourakom gathered up her exercise equipment from the practice courtyard of the Queen's Riders. She had a light sweat on her brow after leading the new rider trainees Onua had recruited through their warm-ups and drill practices.  
  
She walked slowly through the glorious, sun warmed air back to her chambers in the palace. She unlocked the sturdy wooden door and dropped her luggage. She collapsed down into an overstuffed, comfortable armchair and closed her eyes. Today had been a tiring and busy day.  
  
Just then there was a knock at the door. She pulled herself out of her reverie and walked to answer it. It was Sir Raoul of Goldenlake and Malories Peak, knight commander of the King's Own. Buri smiled weakly when she saw him. A while ago they'd had a brief affair but had stopped it when they both realized they weren't ready for something major yet, and they both had demanding careers. After all, Buri was Raoul's counterpart.   
  
He bowed before her. "My fair lady, by order of King Jonathan of Conte, I bring you an invitation to the grand spring fete at the palace ballroom tomorrow evening. He would like to cordially invite you as one of his esteemed guests, and I would like to echo his ingenious proposal."  
  
Buri giggled. Raoul had a marvelous way of words, and he'd certainly perfected the art of flirting. She curtsied. "Can you please convey my best wishes to our liege with the message that I would gladly attend this grande occasion with pleasure."  
  
She straightened up and leaned against the doorframe with a more serious look on her face. "Is there anything else I should know about this ball? Is it a costume party? Military commanders and ambassadors from other kingdoms?"  
  
Raoul straightened up as well and stood at attention in the military posture which had been drilled into him since he was a page with Alanna. He was much taller than Buri, who was very petite. "The ball is to introduce several young maidens to court and celebrate the anniversary of King Jonathan and Queen Thayet's marriage. The theme is romance..." his eyes took on a sexy look. "And I believe Jon wants everyone to come with accompaniment although he didn't say so aloud. You can always tell what he really means by the undertones. Jon is terrible at disguising the truth of what he says."Raoul laughed heartily.   
  
"I agree." she said flirtatiously with, then added a look of feminine confusion on her face. She twirled the tips of her raven coloured bangs with her long fingernails.   
  
"I don't have a fine young gentleman to escort me to a social engagement like this one... Let me see. I really don't know if there's anyone who would do just perfectly for the party, although there's one man who's a possibility..." she replaced the look of confusion with a sexy pout which invoked a feeling that she was deep in thought even though she wasn't at all. Raoul wasn't the only one who knew how to flirt.   
  
"I know! There's a handsome fellow standing right in front of me who is without a partner at the moment is there not?" she carefully moved her hands onto his chest and started playing with the ends of his tunic collar.   
  
"I believe you're right, madam. I think he would find that plan suited to his liking if I'm not mistaken."  
  
"Good." she purred softly. "Then he will meet me at six o'clock on the day of this fine event?"  
  
"He'll be happy to!" Raoul replied with another of his dazzling smiles, then turned and walked back down the corridor.  
  
"See you then!" Buri called at his retreating figure. She laughed to herself. She should do this more often. It was a lot of fun. She turned her mind to more important things. If the ball was the next evening, she had a lot of things to do to get ready... 


	2. The Preparations

Passions  
Chapter 2 ~ The Preparations  
  
Buri frowned nervously. Had that flirtatious woman seducing Raoul at the door been her? Buriram Tourakom, the short and stocky manly woman who was a respected K'miri commander? She had been changing a lot lately and she herself hadn't even noticed. Maybe it's because I'm remembering how much fun it is to be romantic and young and I had forgotten before now.   
  
Since she was appointed Head Commander of the Queen's Riders after Thayet resigned she had focused on her job more than anything else. The safety of Tortall had been in her hands! But it was time to focus on the more refined and enjoyable pleasures of life. Dancing and chatting at a ball would be a fine change from guarding the doorway to make sure no one attempted to kill King Jonathan. It would be fun.  
  
Buri strolled lazily over to her closet that held all of her worldy possessions. She rifled through drawers and pulled garments off racks and hangers. She tried to distract herself from the problem but she had to face it. There was absolutely nothing for her to wear to the ball. All she could find in her own closet was a simple gingham skirt and tons of tunics, hose and breeches. It was rather depressing! And she desperately wanted to make a good impression on Raoul. Their short conversation had uncovered embers of passion she thought had been buried in ash long ago.  
  
Buri resigned herself to the fact that she absolutely must go shopping. Never being a feminine sort of lady, she didn't know where she should start so she decided to pay a visit to Queen Thayet, her childhood friend and confidante. Being the queen of the realm and a regular attendee of court, Thayet would know what to do. Buri could also share her feelings with Thayet and they could giggle together like they did when they were both fifteen.  
  
She knocked on Thayet's door after striding quickly out of the military wing into the fancier part of the building. It was answered by one of Thayet's ladies in waiting and Buri was shooed inside to meet with her old friend and in turn Thayet shooed away the door answerer so they could be alone.  
  
"Why Buri! What brings you here to my humble abode?" Thayet laughed along with Buri at that untruth. "I thought you would be busy training our latest recruits to help protect the integrity and valour of Tortall? You never stop by to pay me visits that often anymore."  
  
"The truth is I have some gossip! About Raoul!" she and Thayet both giggled. Buri seated herself on a plush upholstered purple sofa and related the tale to Thayet, not leaving out anythign and shamlessly imbellishing the story in certain parts.   
  
"Oh my! You have quite a problem on your hands!" Thayet answered seriously. "I would have my ladies sew you some dazzling gown but they're absolutely inundated with other people's requests now that Jon arranged a ball on such short notice." she stiffened. "I secretly think he forgot our anniversary until yesterday and then suddenly went on a whirlwind of preparation to make the ball better than usual to make up for it!"  
  
"Men!" they said in unison and laughed again.  
  
"Oh, Thayet don't worry. I'm sure I'll be able to find something... It wouldn't be fair to take your ladies valuable time when they already promised their services to someone else... Do you have any other suggestions. I'm sure there must be a dress shop somewhere in Corus?"  
  
"Oh yes of course." Thayet said getting back to the whole point of their meeting. "You know the young lady knight Keladry of Mindelan?" Buri nodded slowly. "Well, her former maidservant Lalasa started this wonderful little dress boutique and set up shop in Corus. The dresses are darling and she has very affordable prices. She's a very talented young woman, she can sew anything from a nun's habit to one of those slutty, gaudy things that court women wear these days. It's rather unfortunate, isn't it. That to stay in business she must sew disgusting things like that for some of those whores..." Thayet trailed off and was just about to launch into another topic when Buri interrupted her.  
  
"I must thank you for the tip. I'll definately visit her. But I don't have much time!"  
  
"You're right darling you don't! This is how you get there..." Thayet gave Buri instructions on how to reach Lalasa's shop. Buri took that chance to escape from her chatty friend before she got sucked into another discussion. Thayet was a great woman, but she did talk too much.  
  
Buri saddled her most agreeable and friendly mare to go into the city and rode regally through the palace gates into the city with a dagger up her sleeve and her purse between her breasts. No street urchin or thief should mistake her for a sniveling, court weakling, but if they did they'd be in for a surprise.  
  
She tied her mare to a post outside a quaint little red bricked building in inner Corus and walked daintily into the store. She was greeted by a pretty, young girl dressed in a simple, yet elegant dress who stood behind a shiny counter. Whoever ran this shop took pride in keeping it looking elegant and clean.  
  
"Hello, I'm looking for something dazzling and beautiful for tomorrow's ball. Something to impress and charm, but not make me look like I'm for sale. Is there anything available right away that doesn't have to be made now? Oh by the way, my name is Buriram Tourakom." Buri asked honestly. She liked the air about this shop and the friendliness of the staff.  
  
Lalasa cheerfully answered Buri's questions about the dress. "Don't worry my lady I'm sure we can find something splendid that will be perfect for the occasion."  
  
"Please, call me Buri!"   
"As you wish, Buri" Lalasa smiled in a rare burst of humour.  
  
Lalasa and Buri entered the back room and started looking through a rack of beautiful gowns. There were tons of them, in every hue, colour and for every purpose, just as Thayet had told her Suddenly Buri uttered an audible gasp. She picked up a dazzling cream coloured frock. It had a low neckline embroidered with gold thread and inset with rubies. Tiny pearls rim the bottom of the dress, which was covered with immense folds of the silky material.   
  
Lalasa looked shocked as well. "I forget I still had that dress available. It is definately your colour. It will look beautiful with your hair. It is very expensive though... The dress comes with these slippers." She held up a pair of crystal shoes encrusted with diamonds and shiny golden straps.   
  
Buri had noticeable tears in her eyes. "It's beautiful..." she stammered. "May I try it on? I'm pretty sure I can afford it. I'm usually a miser with my money... Been saving it up for years."  
  
"Of course you can it try on!" Lalasa said animatedly. She and Buri went into a small changing room and Lalasa helped Buri with buckles and strings and things Buri had never had to worry about before.   
  
When she emerged everyone in the room was dazzled. The dress clung to Buri's slim figure wonderfully. Folds of material enveloped her petite legs and the neckline and jewels emphasized her bosom nicely. Buri even thought it flaunted it a little... But not too much. She blushed.  
  
"Get one of the palace maids to do your hair like this..." Lalasa gave Buri instructions to look her best as Buri put on her normal clothes and they packed up the dress cautiously into a bag. Buri also bought some hair adornments and jewels to use at the ball. She had just paid Lalasa one hundred gold nobles when a flustered looking Raoul walked in.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Buri and Lalasa asked in unison. Raoul reddened.  
  
"Umm... I was thinking... I was looking for... some clothes to wear to the ball tonight" he stammered.  
  
Buri laughed heartily. "Lalasa is a DRESS maker Raoul. Unless you happen to have a secret passion for crossdressing you're in the wrong place".  
  
Lalasa answered calmly. "No Buri, I make men's apparel and suits too. What exactly were you looking for?" she asked Raoul and made an almost invisible hand gesture for Buri to leave. Buri took the hint.  
  
"Something handsome looking and fancy-ish" he leaned closer. "Something to dazzle someone special".  
  
Lalasa but her lip to keep from giggling. She showed Raoul some suits that were available and he quickly chose a fine looking, expensive one and rode back to the Palace. He definately wasn't a born shopper. She knew two people who were both in for a big surprise tonight!  
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A/N: Okay, it's kind of fluffy, but I'm still developing the plot a bit. I'm pretty sure where I'm going with this so it should be finished within a week. Part of this chapter was taken from The Chamber of Ordeals Tortallan RPG. It's a fun place, come and join! Please R/R! 


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